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(No Model.) 4 SheetsSheet 1.

H. H. SESSIONS.

POSTAL GAR.

No. 541,635. Patented June 25,1895.

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POSTAL OAR.

No. 541,635. Patented June 25, 1895.

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' POSTAL GAR.

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Patented June 25, 1895.

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(No Model.) 4 SheetsSheet 4.

H. H. SESSIONS.

POSTAL GAR. No. 541,635. Patented June 25, 1895.

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UNITED, STATEs PATENT, OFF- on.

HENRY HOWARD sessions, .oF oHicAeo, ILLINOIS, AssIG oa To THE PULL,- MANS PALACE UAR COMPANY, or SAME PLACE.

POST-AL. CAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters PatentNO. 541,635, dated June 25, 1895. Application filed November 20, 1893- Qerial No.491,470. (N model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY HOWARD SES- SIONS, of Chicago, Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Postal Cars, of which the following is a specification.

'lhisinvention renders available for use in the railway mail cars portions of postal cars which have hitherto not been available, and this is accomplished by'inclosing and, utiliz-v (0 ing the platform of the car and by a novel ar-' rangement of the letter cases and of the door in the end of the car. One of the platforms is utilized for a toilet room and Wardrobes and the other for the heater.

from the platform is provided inside the car by the arrangement of -the letter cases.

In the accompanying drawings, Figures 1 and 2, read together, show a floor plan of the 20.031 with the central portion broken away. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional elevation through the platform and its inolosing-walls, and showing the end of the car in elevation. Fig. at showsin elevation the arrangement of :5 the letter-boxes and distributing-table.

In the railway mail service contracts are made with the railway companies as carriers on the basis of the number of square feet of space available for postal uses in the car. It

;: is desired therefore, both by railway companies and by the postal authorities, to secure as much space as possible in each car, the

5 cause it is more economical to secure convenient working space for handling the mails unencumbered or obstructed by the lockers, heater and other necessary conveniences of the car. To this end I have provided for removing these necessary conveniences from the body of the car to the platforms thereof, thus making the entire interior of the car available for handling the mails therein.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 shows the end of the car in which the letter and paper boxes are arranged, and Fig. 2 shows the location of the racks for holding the mail pouches and the platform on which the heater is placed.

Referring to the drawings, (Fig. 1,) A represents the car floor and B the platform floor. Said platform is entirely inclosed, one of its Space for an adr5 ditional wardrobe and water tank accessible cated in the interior of the car.

,through a door N opening onto the platform.

sides having adoor O and the opposite side being either temporarily or permanently closed. D represents the front inclosing walls which may have windows and the double doors E. F represents the door in the end wallof the car, which is placed preferably'at one side of the center for a purpose hereinafter mentioned. The steps leading from the platform are covered by a hinged trap door Gwhich is raised to permit the use of the steps. The steps upon the opposite side of the car, if provided, will be covered by a suitable platform, and the space above said platform is partitioned off to form a toilet room H having a wash stand I, which may bemade to fold and will be supplied with water from a tank .I 10- A wardrobe K may be provided in one corner of this toilet room, and atank L for drinking water may be arranged outside the toilet room between itsinteriorpartition and the door F. A locker M is provided in thecorner of thecar opposite the water tank, and access is had thereto 0 represents the letter boxes, some of which may be arranged against the side walls of the car and two of which are arranged diagonally across the corners of the car and two in the end thereof, one being in front of the door F 8: and closing the upper portion of the door way. Said last mentioned letter case is hinged, as shown in Fig. 4., so that it may be swung around to permit passage through the door way.

A distributing table P is arranged beneath the letter boxes and ahinged section Q is provided in the table in front of the door F.

R represents the paper boxes; S an adj ustable shelf for mail pouches, and T the posts or stanchions for supporting the racks which hold the pouches, the racks being omitted and their position only indicated by'the stanchions, which are shown in section in Fig. 2.

U represents drawers or lockers under the table P.

The platform at the opposite end of the car from that first described is'similarly inclosed and furnishes a place for the heaterVandits fuel reservoir.

The arrangement of the letter cases within the car is novel in some respects. It is desirable to have the several letter cases arranged compactly to avoid the necessity of the clerk walking from side to side or up or down the car in distributing the mail. As shown, the letter cases are arranged around the end of the car. The distributers, standing in the aisle, may therefore reach any letter case of the series without moving from their positions. The hinging of the letter case in front of the door F permits said case to be used even when swung around so as to open the passage way. Of course the passage way is not much used and the letter case need not even be swung on its hinges, as the clerks will usually pass through beneath it, but it can be opened without interfering at all with its use, which is a distinct advantage over previous constructions. The arrangement of the boxes makes it expedient 'to place the door F at one side of the center of the car.

I claim 1. A postal car having its front platform inclosed and provided with a toilet room, adoor in the end wall of the car separating said platform from the body of the car, letter cases arranged along the side walls and across the end adjacent to such platform, the lettercase opposite the door being hinged, all substantially as described and for the purpose set forth.

2. A postal car having its front platform inclosed and provided with a toilet room, a door in the end wall of the car separating said platform from the body of the car, letter cases arranged along the side walls and across the end adj acentto such platform, the letter case opposite the door being hinged and two of the letter cases being arranged diagonally across the corners of the car, a water tank arranged in one of the spaces thus provided and alocker, or other convenience, in the other and accessible from the platform, substantially as described.

3. In a postal car having an inclosed platform and a door leading therefrom to the interior of said car, said door being arranged at one side of the center, letter cases arranged around the end of the car, two of them being placed diagonally with reference to the corners thereof and a letter case hinged in the door Way and adapted to swing into the car, substantially as described.

HENRY HOWARD SESSIONS.

Witnesses:

FREDERICK G. GooDWIN, N. M. BOND. 

